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Richard Rieben

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Richard Rieben was a world traveler, house remodeler, and sometime author and philosopher. The thesis of his manifesto, Reciprocia, is, briefly: “Sovereignty is the base; reciprocity defines how to make it work.” Aside from harping incessantly on the theme of liberty, he led a fairly normal life in middle America, where he scouted for silver-linings. His internet articles are featured at TakeLiberty.com. He passed away sometime after 2005.

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Columns by Richard Rieben

I have written elsewhere that the meme that runs the show is authority worship ' in any manifestation ' but the 2,000-year-old lie that fuels the meme is that freedom is a subset of submission to authority, that we are free only within the context of the clan, upon the strength (security) of the clan, by virtue of the clan, and, therefore, through subordination to the clan (from which all...

Reflecting upon the fundamental issues of Katrina:
Anyone who takes authority over another acts with malice and incompetence.
Same principle/formulation, with qualifiers:
Anyone who, whether through voluntary submission or forced subordination, takes authority over another or others acts with malice and subsequent incompetence.
"Authority over" is grossly different from "responsibility...

In his insightful analysis of the Dark Side, STR writer Jonathan David Morris notes that,
"The Dark Side of the Force is not evil for evil's sake. It's evil because it believes the ends always justify the means . . . .

You are free. The application of that freedom already exists. Through social indoctrination, you do not see your freedom or the potential of its everyday application. The historical ventures to secure this freedom have been based in coercion and confused with subordination, repression and slavery. These ventures violate what exists in nature.

Scarmig's insightful article, 'The Hardest Sell' puts forth the compelling idea that a non-coercive society is not going to offer any more of the goodies than we presently have, but to frame these in an ethical context of non-coercion. He contends that selling the idea of a non-coercive society is less a matter of sweeping improvements in the quality of life, than in the rightness of the ideal of...

'This 'bringer of glad tidings' died as he had lived, as he had taught ' not to 'redeem men' but to show how one must live . . . . The history of Christianity, beginning with the death on the cross, is the history of the misunderstanding, growing cruder with every step, of an original symbolism . . . . Jesus could not intend anything with his death except to give publicly the strongest exhibition...

Many people are willing to respect the sovereignty of other individuals ' and do so regularly ' but they do not believe that reciprocity is sufficient motivation to get others to return the respect, nor that it will provide sufficient security, in itself.
Patently, something more is needed, such as understanding how reciprocal respect works to our mutual self-interest, and some sort of agreement...

An individual who sacrifices his time, energy, service or life for the sake of the tribe is considered noble in this effort by the tribe.
Well, of course. This reflects the group's most highly proclaimed virtues: duty and altruism.
Nineteenth-century French sociologist Auguste Comte gave us the term 'altruism' as a theory of selfless conduct that aspires to the good of others as the ultimate...

by Richard Rieben
When I was living in the third world, over many years, I was struck (nearly knocked over) by the idea of reciprocity. I encountered human beings living under primitive, inefficient governments, and effecting an awesomely humane environment through informal traditions of mutual respect, reciprocated one to another, as their best and most effective security for the boundaries of...

The realm of things political originally refers to the branch of philosophy concerning appropriate boundaries between individuals such as to effect harmonious social relations. It does not have to do with government, per se, nor with laws, voting, courts, a military, or any particular design of boundaries, nor with a particular design's applications (which may or may not include some form of...

The evasive, plastic bubble of our present cultural freeze-frame context is born of a lack of future. We are holding onto illusions of prosperity because all we see ahead of us is loss, emptiness, and desolation (in all aspects of our existence).
Philosopher G.E. Nordell elaborates:
'War, pestilence, hunger and stupidity we have in abundance. We no longer look to any Dream to give us guidance...

Many people with a serious commitment to liberty are willing to relocate to a different planet, if necessary, in order to find or make a society that is organized on the basis of political liberty.
Expats from different regions have emigrated throughout history in this quest ' to England , to the United States , to Argentina , to Costa Rica , to Montana or New Hampshire ' to many places and...

In his insightful analysis of the Dark Side, STR writer Jonathan David Morris notes that,
"The Dark Side of the Force is not evil for evil's sake. It's evil because it believes the ends always justify the means . . . .